Eyeglasses having a detachable nose rest

ABSTRACT

In a pair of eyeglasses having a bridge joining the edges of the lenses, the nose rest includes a one-piece bow which is secured via a spacer element to a retaining and essentially rests only on the bridge of the nose. In particular, the bow, spacer element and retaining plate are portions of a one-piece shaped part, so that a wider range of adaptation options to the individual anatomical features of the eyeglasses wearer in the nose region, on the one hand, and to the eyeglasses design used, on the other hand, is possible in a simple manner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a pair of eyeglasses of the type havinga bridge joining the edges of the lenses and a nose rest that can bemounted on the side of the bridge facing toward the wearer.

Proper positioning of a glasses frame is of critical importance becausethis defines the path of incident light into the eyes, and hence theintended optical effect, while an anatomically unfavorable or unskilledpositioning can cause impairments and in particular discomfort to thewearer and damage to the skin where the glasses rest.

These two problem areas are intrinsically interrelated, and the actualproblem arises from the fact that the relevant anatomical features inthe head region, that is the region of the root and sides of he nose andin region around the ears, are different in every person and also differfrom one another in persons of different races.

It suffices to mention here only the variation in the width of theforehead by up to 10 mm, the shape and width of the nose, and so forth.The anatomical features which are particularly relevant in the design ofa glasses frame can be found in an article by Dieter Fahrner publishedin NOJ 11/1990, pp. 8 to 19.

If it is to be possible to position the eyeglasses frame on anyindividual wearer in a satisfactory way from both an optical and ananatomical standpoint, structural designs are necessary that can beadapted in some way sufficiently so that the optical wearing situationfor a given wearer is attainable at least in rough approximation. Inprinciple this adaptation can be attained in two different ways: namelyby means of a structural part that is intrinsically variable in shape,or one that is available in different sizes and dimensions. It is thenthe task of the optician, for an industrially manufactured glassesframe, to make such changes with skill or to select properly fittingcomponent parts, to enable individual adaptation to the wearer. Forinstance, manufacturers offer glasses frames in three different bridgewidths (16 mm, 18 mm and 20 mm), to make possible at least a roughadaptation to the width of the bridge of the nose of the particularwearer.

In narrowly defined regions, adaptations to the anatomical features ofthe wearer can also be attained by means of a soft or elasticembodiment, as is for instance known from the use of silicone as asheathing material, which has the additional advantage of great comfortwhile being worn.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide eyeglasses whicheliminate a number of the complicating factors characteristic of theprior art.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel nose restwhich is easy to attach, comes in a single size, is reliably adaptableto individual anatomical features, and also is highly comfortable whenworn.

The above and other objects are achieved, in a pair of eyeglasses,having lenses, a bridge connected between edges of the lenses and a noserest that can be mounted on the side of the bridge facing toward thewearer, by the improvement wherein the nose rest comprises: a one-piecebow; retaining means secured to the bridge; and a spacer elementsecuring the bow to the retaining means; wherein the bow hassubstantially the shape of a circular arc and is positioned andconfigured to rest essentially only on the bridge of the nose of awearer.

The basic concept of the invention is that with the bow restingessentially only on the bridge of the nose . .optimal basic adaptationis assured, since in the case of.!. optimal basic adaptation is assured,since in the case of Europeans, and more generally Caucasians, thebridge of the nose extends at an angle of approximately 45° to theprimary direction of view and thus can be considered as largelyconstant, within narrow tolerances. The selection of the bridge of thenose as a constant for orientation of the nose rest is thus a firstimportant step toward attaining the stated objects, since all of theother parameters, which are subject to greater fluctuations, such as thewidth of the nose and the shape and the size of the nose, are excludedfrom the outset, and individual adaptation of the shape of the nose restneed be done only within narrow limits and is easily attainable bysuitable deformation of the nose rest itself

The spacer element, moreover, assures that the glasses frames do not fittoo close to the face of the wearer and do rest on their eyebrows andcheeks, thus reliably avoiding these undesirable contacts with the skinand soiling of the glasses and lenses from skin oils or sweat in theregion of the eyebrows Other essential advantages of the embodiment ofthe nose rest according to the invention reside in the extremelycompact, inconspicuous attachment to the glasses frame, so that thereare no esthetic impairments whatever in the appearance of the glasses.Suitable threaded tangs can be attached to or installed in any pair ofglasses, whether with a metal or a plastic frame; these tangs passthrough recesses in the retaining plate, and the nose rest can easily besecured to the glasses frame through them.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the bow,spacer element and retaining plate are constituted by a one-piece shapedpart, particularly made of stainless steel.

The results thus are both that the bow is deformable and that thedistance and angle of rest can be adjusted by suitable relativepositioning or bending of the center portion relative to the two endportions that form the bow and retaining plate. By varying the bendingangle between the retaining plate and the bow, for instance, easyadaptation is possible to a steeper nose bridge, such as is oftenrequired Asiatic people, for instance.

According to a further embodiment, the bow has openings through whichthe material of a silicon sheath can pass. By suitable dimensioning ofthese openings, the cross section of the material of the bow in theregion on either side of the openings can be selected in such a way thatshaping of the bow, which is preformed in an approximately circular arc,is easily possible, so that a possibly necessary fine adaptation of thesurface of the rest to the shape of the bridge of the nose of the wearermay also be performed without difficulty; it is thus assured inparticular that the sides of the nose are relieved of the weight of theglasses which, particularly with heavy glasses frames, is important inorder to avoid hindrance to and impairment of breathing

Furthermore, the use of a one-piece shaped part permits simplemanufacture, since this shaped part may be embodied as a stamped part.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the retaining plate issecured to the bridge by means of pins, which are for instance threadedpins soldered to the metal bridge, and spacer rings are slipped overthese pins between the bridge and the retaining plate. This makes afurther range of variation possible in a simple manner by way ofadjusting the distance of the glasses from the face of the wearer; thespacer rings may for instance be of plastic, but they may also be ofmetal and/or be adapted in color and material to the remainder of theglasses frame Such spacer rings may for instance be 1 mm to 2 mm thick.

Other advantageous embodiments will be described below.

Two exemplary embodiments of glasses according to the invention will nowbe described in further detail with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective basic view of a first exemplaryembodiment of a nose rest according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear pictorial view of the nose rest of FIG. 1, when mountedon a pair of glasses.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in the plane C-D of FIG. 4 of a secondexemplary embodiment of a nose rest according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the bow of the nose rest of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view in the plane A-B of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a front pictorial view of a pair of glasses with a nose restin accordance with the second exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 3-5.

FIG. 7 is a perspective exploded view or the mounting of a nose restaccording to the invention on a pair or glasses.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the first exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the nose rest19 is associated with a pair of eyeglasses having lenses 11 and 12, sideframe members 13 and 14, a central frame member 25 and a bridge 15. Theeyeglasses may also have a one-piece frame in which members 13, 14 and25, and possibly also bridge 15 are integral with one another, asdepicted in FIG. 6. Nose rest 19 is composed of three parts; a retainingplate 22 with bores 23 for receiving threaded pins for attachment to thepair or glasses, a spacer element 21, preferable having a length of atleast 3 mm and bow 20 to rest on the bridge of the wearer's nose.

A nose rest of this kind can be mounted either via a separate retainingelement 16 having threaded pins 18 and secured to the bridge 15 ofglasses 10, or directly via threaded pins that protrude from the back ofthe bridge 15 of the eyeglasses'frame and are mounted in, or let orinjected into it. In either case, nose rest 19 will be secured to pins18 via lock nuts 24.

In the second exemplary embodiment, shown in FIGS. 3 to 7, the functionsof bow 20, spacer element 21 and retaining plate 22 are taken over by aone-piece stainless steel shaped part 10 having a first end portion 10Awhich forms the bow 20, a second end portion 10B which forms theretaining plate 22, and a tapered center portion 10C which acts as aspacer element 21. This shaped part 10 can be bent from a stamped metal,e.g. stainless steel, plate in accordance with the cross-sectional viewof FIG. 5, so that with adaptation to the shape and positioning of thebridge of the glasses, the planes of the two end portions 10A, 10B form,with respect to the plane FIG. 5, an angle α or 60° to 90° preferable60° to 70°, for example Advantageously, the stainless steel shaped parthas a thickness of 0.4 to 0.8 mm.

The bow 20, or the end portion 10A forming this bow 20, is sheathed witha soft plastic material, such as silicone, 20A and has openings 20B and20C for better fixation of this plastic material. The Shore A hardnessof the silicone material is in the range from 30 to 60.

The bow 20 in the exemplary embodiment shown is curved approximately inthe form of a quarter-circle, and because of the openings 20B, 20C, across-sectional reduction of material is attained in the lateral flankregion of the bow 20, which enables easy bending of the bow open orclosed in the directions of the double arrows A and B, as shown in FIG.3, and thus an adaptation to the shape of the bridge of the individualwearer's nose.

From the sectional view of FIG. 5 it can easily be seen that the angle αbetween the planes of the two end portions 10A and 10B can be variedquite easily by variable bending at the transitional regions X and Ybetween center portion 21 and end portions 20 and 22, thus enabling anadaptation of the plane of the nose rest to the plane of the bridge ofthe particular glasses frame used. By a suitable combination of theangles of bending at the bending points X and Y, an adjustment of thespacing of the surface of the rest, defined by portion 20, relative tothe plane of retaining plate 22 can also be attained to a certain extentChanges in the spacing, changes in the angle α, and changes in theshaping of bow 20 are thus possible by simple processes of bending anddeformation, which can be performed quickly and with high precision.

An example for mounting of the nose rest is finally sketched in theexample shown in FIG. 7. Two threaded pins 26 are fastened to bridge 15.If bridge 15 is of metal, this can be achieved by soldering; if bridge15 is of plastic, pins 26 may be in the form of suitable threadedanchors cast integrally with it. Nose rest 10 can be slipped onto pins26 and secured with nuts 28. If the aforementioned range of variation inthe adjustment of spacing of the bridge 15 from the region where itrests on the bridge of the nose is not adequate, than two spacer ringsor tubes 27 may be inserted onto pins 26 between bridge 15 and shapedpart 10, and this adaptation can in turn be augmented in the simplestpossible fashion.

This applications relates to subject matter disclosed in GermanApplication No. G 9004 468.1, filed Apr. 19, 1990, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

While the description above refers to particular embodiments of thepresent invention, it will be understood that many modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit thereof The accompanying claimsare intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the truescope and spirit of the present invention.

The presently disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered inall respects as illustrative and not restriction, the scope of theinvention being indicated by the appended claims, rather than theforegoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning andrange of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embracedtherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a pair of eyeglasses, having lenses, a bridgeconnected between edges of the lenses and a nose rest that can bemounted on the side of the . .bridges.!. .Iadd.bridge .Iaddend.facingtoward the wearer, the improvement wherein: said nose rest comprises aone-piece bow; a . .resting.!. .Iadd.retaining .Iaddend.plate having twobores, and a spacer element securing said bow to said retaining plate,mid bow, said retaining plate and said spacer element constitutingrespective portions of a one-piece shaped structure; said bow hassubstantially the shape of a circular arc and is positioned andconfigured to rest essentially only on the . .bride.!. .Iadd.bridge.Iaddend.of the nose of a wearer; and said eyeglasses further comprisestwo externally threaded screw elements secured to said bridge andpassing through said bores of said retaining plate and two threaded nutsfastened to said screw elements for securing said retaining plate tosaid bridges.
 2. The pair of eyeglasses of claim 1 wherein: saidretaining plate is a flat retaining plate lying in a first plane; saidbow is a plate which is flat in a second plane transverse to thedirection in which it has the shape of a circular arc; and said firstand second planes form an angle α. .π.!. .Iadd.of .Iaddend.approximately60° to 90° with one another.
 3. The pair of eyeglasses of claim 2wherein the angle α is formed by two bends of said spacer element eachat a location adjacent a respective one of said retaining plate and saidplate constituting said bow.
 4. The pair of eyeglasses of claim 1wherein said shaped structure is formed from a plate of stainless steelhaving a thickness of 0.4 to 0.8 mm.
 5. The pair of eyeglasses of claim1 further comprising spacer rings disposed on said . .said.!. screwelements between said bridge and said retaining plate.
 6. The pair ofeyeglasses of claim 1 further comprising a holder piece carrying saidscrew elements and secured to said bridge.
 7. The pair of eyeglasses ofclaim 1 wherein said screw elements are mounted directly on said bridge.8. The pair of eyeglasses of claim 7 wherein said bridge is made ofmetal and said screw elements are soldered to said bridge.
 9. The pairof eyeglasses of claim 7 wherein said bridge is made of plastic and saidscrew elements are threaded anchors that are inserted into said bridge.10. The pair of eyeglasses of claim 1, wherein the length of said spacerelement is at least 3 mm.
 11. The pair of eyeglasses of claim 1 furthercomprising a soft sheath of plastic encasing said bow.
 12. The pair ofeyeglasses of claim 11 wherein said bow has openings for the passagetherethrough of material of said sheath. .Iadd.
 13. In a pair ofeyeglasses, having lenses, a bridge connected between edges of thelenses and a nose rest that can be mounted on the side of the bridgefacing toward the wearer, the improvement wherein: said nose restcomprises a one-piece bow; a retaining plate having at least one bore,and a spacer element securing said bow to said retaining plate, saidbow, said retaining plate and said spacer element constitutingrespective portions of a one-piece shaped structure; said bow hassubstantially the shape of a circular arc and is positioned andconfigured to rest essentially only on the bridge of the nose of awearer; and said eyeglasses further comprise means including at leastone externally threaded screw element and at least one threaded passagein which said screw element is engageable, said means being mounted forsecuring said retaining plate to said bridge. .Iaddend.